He Man Who Mistook His Hat

he Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat is a compilation of clinical tales centered around brain injuries to the right hemisphere and their drastic effects. Oliver Sacks does a fantastic job of using psychological terminology to validate his knowledge of clinical neurology without dehumanizing any of his patients and still appealing to a reader with minimal knowledge of psychology. Sacks clearly states that he wants to convey the hardships mental patients endure through stories and interviews, not just case studies in order to establish connections to his readers. In my opinion, this brought the novel to another level as it was so much more enticing to read about these patients as if I knew them, rather than I was reading their medical charts. …show more content…
Sacks states “To be ourselves we must have ourselves – possess, if need be re-possess, our life-stories. We must “recollect” ourselves, recollect the inner drama, the narrative, of ourselves. A man needs such a narrative, a continuous inner narrative, to maintain his identity, his self.” This quote simply reflects the entire message of the book. When certain aspects of everyday life are stripped from us and simple mental processes become unachievable, it becomes difficult to identify as yourself. The last section of the book, “The World of the Simple,” was perhaps the most influential to me. It focused on people considered mentally slow and their everyday lives. This was by far the saddest section because the patients were the most intensely dehumanized by society but were every bit as loveable and relatable. I have never experienced a person with any other neural conditions mentioned throughout the book than the patients from this section. They are integrated into society, and often looked down upon over things they cannot control. This issue is very important to me, and Sacks presents their stories very accurately without causing a reader to think any less of